A co-worker brought this loose-leaf tea back from a trip to China, and I found it in a cupboard at work. It’s not bad, although I’ve had much nicer jasmine green teas. The odd thing about this one is that it seems to have quite a caffeine kick.

This tea is what is served at my favorite Thai food restaurant in Miami. Last time I went, I saw the little butterfly on the tea bag tag and decided to look for it the next time I was at an asain supermarket. I walked up and down the aisle numerous times with no luck and just grabbed the biggest box I could find out of frustration and leave before I got too annoyed. When I got home and sat the box on the counter, I saw the butterfly emblem on the side of the box. I was really happy, but at the same time I felt so stupid looking for it for so long only to accidentally buy it! It is a delicious green tea and you get 100 bags in the box so it’s a bargain!

My second Gongfu of today. My previous experience with this tea was not a positive one (so much so that I did not review or rate). My first encounter was bitter and sharp (from what I remember) which I believe to be down to their default instructions. The packet says to use boiling water and keep covered for 5 minutes. It was yucky.

My Gongfu today is using a cooler water temperature and having my first pot steep for 1 minute. My own instructions :)

The leaves whilst raw are a dark brown colour with the occasional yellow flower bud or stem. It has a scent of musky jasmine.

What is produced is a lovely honey coloured tea with that beautiful sweet, floral jasmine scent (that us much expected). This is much tastier than before, it’s far more subtle with the sweet jasmine being fresh, light and at a perfect strength. The quality is not by any means the best but this was a cheap tea (roughly £3 for 227g/8 oz) so for that price it’s a nice every day jasmine tea.

Well first I thought I would have to throw this tea away but my second try with different methods has worked wonders. I may even take this to work. :)

Preparation

I’m lucky in the fact that my mother is my boss and the only other person I work alongside is my Aunt and they don’t mind me taking time to brew my tea. Gongfu is easier than Gaiwan as I can just pour myself a glass full and carry on until my cup is empty then I just take 2 minutes out to get another cup. Most of the time I just take bags or empty bags for mixtures but I dislike using bags for natural tea hence the Gongfu. :)

You are lucky. I could never do that at my job, and I have to settle for stuffing tea into bags. That’s why I keep the best tea for home. Although, I may try to get away with a small teapot, a thermos of hot water and a cup…

I bought a Breville and a Zojirushi to work. I’m not supposed to have them, but no one really cares. So I can brew pots, but the slower methods are usually frowned upon a little bit. Although I’m really a beginner at gongfu and gaiwans anyway.

This was the first tea I have ever tried gong fu, and without sugar. I found it bitter for a few seconds and then flatness and no distinct flavor at all. Makes me a bit scared for all lighter teas to be this way.

Bagged
Appearance:
Aroma when Dry: sweet jasmine floral, soapy
After water is first poured: hints of jasmine
At end of steep: hints of grassy jasmine
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: Light yellow
Staple? Type yes, would not buy brand
Preferred time of day: any

Preparation

Since I can’t really taste anything, I decided to at least make something warm and comforting. So, I put the tea bag into my mug, along with a little sweetener and a cinnamon stick. Strangely, I’ve never made tea with a cinnamon stick before. I poured boiling water over it all and let it steep. The result is very pleasant. I’m too sick to taste the black tea, but the cinnamon comes through and it’s nice. Reminds me of winter. I finally have a use for this bag of cinnamon sticks!!

Yes, congrats on 350 tasting notes! I don’t know if you’re particularly fond of ginger, but, if you want to taste … I recommend ginger. I actually love this product when I’m sick: http://popus.com/ginger-green-tea-instant-ginger-honey-crystals/ (The ginger honey crystals) … I found it at Whole Foods a couple of years ago, and I like to keep it on hand for when I am feeling sick, I just add it to my basic black tea and then I can taste the warming ginger. It makes me feel much better … it’s a temporary feel good feeling, but, when I’m sick I’ll take even just a few moments of feeling good.

Today I ventured back to the First Oriental Market, as I’m low on plain black teas and I wanted to try something new. This was very well in my price range, and my past experiences with black teas from the Fujian Province of China have been good. Also, I admit, I love pioneering teas that are new to Steepster.

The packaging is mostly in Chinese, so a lot of the details are lost on me. But it comes bagged, and it smells like it’s going to be a strong, no-nonsense black. I can’t detect any distinct notes just from the scent of the bag. The leaves themselves are black and crushed up like most cheap bagged teas.

It brewed up dark in four minutes, reddish amber with a malty, honeylike aroma. The flavor is surprisingly smooth and very malty. Almost creamy in its aftertaste. It’s milder than I expected, but enjoyable. Like many Fujians I’ve tried, it has a hint of cocoa in it as well. I’m happy that I have a whole box to go through, and I look forward to having this in a tall iced glass.

Preparation

Cold brewed overnight. A little bitter so I added some simple syrup. Not sure I like the jasmine, it’s a little strong. Very very flowery. Luckily this was super cheap, less than 3 dollars. Also comes in a nice tin that I’ll stick another label on and reuse later.

Preparation

This one fell pretty short night the night before last. It was very heavy on the jasmine and quite bitter. I brewed all of them at 176 for 1 minute. That was the instructions on the Teavivre package. None of the other packages had clear instructions. So one ring to rule them all. I think in the future I may have to try a lower temperature and see if I can get rid of that bitterness.

We went kicking around a local asian supermarket today in search of a gaiwan (no luck) and any other random gems we could find. So we picked out a couple of things to try.

I have to say, the price of this jasmine green is really the only reason I picked it up. 150g for sub-$3, in a neat little blue tin. The tin probably isn’t airtight, and I don’t exactly have the faculties (or patience, really) to test that… but the seal is pretty darn impressive.

This tea is exactly what I expect from a Chinese restaurant, which, well, is because this is probably the exact tea I get from a Chinese restaurant. A light floral flavor, the green tea barely coming in at the end of the flavor, a mild but noticeable astringency. Compared to the Jasmine Pearls I have from Mad Hat, the flavor of this tea (particularly the Jasmine flavor) is much more subdued.

They had four different Jasmine teas by Fujian tea, one in a yellow square tin as pictured, one in a red square tin, the blue cylindrical tin that I bought, and then a green cylindrical tin. No differentiation other than a serial number up top that might mean something (mine is 2063). Well, and all of the writing that I don’t understand may mean something too, but I just assume it says Jasmine Tea in Chinese :).

I might keep this around. The quality definitely isn’t that of the pearls from Mad Hat (and I’m eventually going to want to try the pearls from Teavivre), but man… at this price… SO CHEAP. IT IS SO INSANELYCHEAP. Sorry, had to get that out.

Oh; this is like the most nostalgic tea ever
lol – I think I grew up drinking this tea, as asian as our home is :)
I can say I don’t really enjoy Chinese teas – they tend to be really … smoky (?) for me but this Jasmine tea is the one I compare all the rest to.
yummy!!

Oh, this tea. Like most of the other Steepsterites, I found this at an Asian market — that is, the new Asian market in Moscow, ID, that has good turmeric, frozen lemongrass, some really nice peanut/sesame/adzuki mochi and Rotiland frozen rotis. One look at this place and it was instant love.

The only bad thing about this place is that there’s a $5 purchasing minimum. I can’t just pop in and get some Fruitery jellies or hot mango chutney — I have to buy multiple small things together. I guess that’s the reason I got this (they had mango Fruitery, and it was only $1.59). The tin of this jasmine tea was $1.99, and I’ve always seen it in the other Asian markets, so I decided to splurge. I was pretty glad that I did.

The smell from the tin is very floral, and the taste of the tea is, too. It’s incredibly sweet and aromatic, and really great for blah days. I’ve had pretty unhappy run-ins with jasmine teas before, so I was a bit wary of the strength of this tea. However, it’s not too bitter or too strong (unless you leave the leaves in for 30 minutes while drinking, which I did the first time). In fact, I brewed this tea, left it for approximately ten minutes, then remembered it. I thought it’d be horrible overdone, but it was perfect. It seems that the taste doesn’t change much from about 5 minutes to 10 minutes of steeping. Lucky me, since I’m the tea-forgetting queen of the world.

Overall, I’ve had good experiences with this tea. It may not be too special for someone who loves jasmine and drinks it regularly, but it’s good enough for me to keep it as a regular in my tea stash. Oh, and the tin is adorable.